Nikofor, Nick and Katie

Nicolai was born Nov. 2, 1887 in Cernauti, Austria. Later, he and his parents, four brothers and one sister moved to Transylvania, Romania.
As a young man he ventured to Canada with a few of his friends, finally settling in Drumheller where he was employed in a coal mine. He also established there a small general store and shoe repair shop.
In 1925 he came to Boian to find a Romanian bride and married Katie Serbu, daughter of John and Anne Serbu. After the wedding, held Feb. 7, 1926, they returned to Drumheller. There they made their home till 1929 when fire destroyed store, home and belongings. They returned to Boian and lived on Mrs. Nickifor’s parents’ farm. Depression had begun and money and jobs were scarce. Nicolai, being a resourceful and handy man, painted, plastered, and made monuments in order to earn a few dollars. In the early 30’s he painted the dome inside the church and some years later he stuccoed the exterior.
In 1935 summer, they located in Willingdon and five years later they were able to open their own butcher shop, the Willingdon Meat Market. While Katie operated the business, Nick continued with his plastering and stuccoing. Many homes and churches were done by him in the surrounding communities.
He made many tombstones in the Boian cemetery. A structure in which he took exceptional pride was the pioneer monument in Willingdon dedicated to the pioneers of the area in August 1955.
Always interested in Romanian activities he devoted much of his time and talents there. He was secretary for the St. Mary’s Romanian Church from 1944 to 1952. During that term of office, he, with George N. Kelba and Mike Serbu succeeded in having the Certificate of Title read that the St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Congregation of Boian is the owner of the forty acres of land and of course the church too. Gifted with a good voice, he enjoyed singing and at Christmas he would go carolling and organized the Irod. In this way, very much needed money was raised to keep the church functioning.
While working for themselves, and doing their share of community work, the Nickifors managed to raise four beautiful daughters and two fine sons.
Mary, the oldest, married George Bezuko and after farming successfully for a number of years they moved to Edmonton.
Victoria married R. Chornetski and they reside in Toronto.
Ann married Walter Fedorak and they reside in Edmonton.
Kay married H. Stork. At present they are in Germany.
The boys are also married and have families of their own. Nick lives in Edmonton, while Tom is in Vancouver.
In the late 60’s the Nickifors moved to Edmonton due to ill health and enjoyed a few happy years of retirement. Nicolai passed away in 1968, while Katie followed him in May, 1969.